The Yankees utility players, Ronald
Torreyes (0.3 WAR), Tyler Wade (-0.1 WAR) and Neil Walker (-0.1 WAR) had a
combined WAR of .1 in 2018, and while they are all serviceable as utility
players or as players off the bench, this is an area where the Yankees could use
an upgrade in 2019.

Exploring the idea of Chad Green as a starter in 2018

Chad
Green made quite a name for himself out of the Yankee bullpen in 2017. The
26-year-old righty finished the season with a perfect 5-0 record to go along
with a dazzling 1.83 ERA, 0.74 WHIP, 1.75 FIP, and 13.4 K/9 rate. In 69
innings, Green picked up 103 strikeouts, walking just 17 and he only allowed 34
hits, holding hitters to a .147 batting average against. With his dominance,
Green became one of the most trusted relievers in the Yankee bullpen. Despite
that, Brian Cashman and Green made headlines yesterday when Cashman told MLB.com's Bryan Hoch that
Green would enter 2018 as a starting pitcher, with pitching out of the bullpen
as the fallback option.

Photo Credit: Charles Wenzelberg

The
Yankees used Green primarily as a starter in his rookie season, with eight of
his 12 appearances being in the Yankee rotation. However, Green pitched much
better out of the bullpen in 2016 with a 0.00 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in 9.1 innings,
compared to a 5.94 ERA and 1.51 WHIP in 36.1 innings as a starter. In 2017, the
Yankees used Green as a spot starter for just one of his 40 appearances, and he
lasted just two innings, allowing two runs on two hits. Granted, Green had
pitched 3.1 innings the day before that start.

While
Green has some glaring concerns regarding his history as a starter, let’s not
forget that people were saying the same thing about Luis Severino following his
disastrous 2016 season. As a starter in 2016, Severino went 0-8 with a
disgusting 8.50 ERA and 1.78 WHIP in 11 starts, where he allowed an opponent’s
batting average of .337. Inversely as a reliever, Severino was 3-0 with a 0.39
ERA in 11 outings, with a 0.77 WHIP and .105 BAA. Many were calling for
Severino to stay in the bullpen, but he keyed in on correcting many mistakes he
made in 2016, including keeping the ball tight to his body when he was winding
up. In 2017, Severino dominated going 14-6 with a 2.98 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and .208
BAA, throwing the “failed starter” narrative out the window.

As
a three-pitch pitcher, Severino really developed his changeup as a strong third
pitch, and he also increased the effectiveness of his slider, which has a
tendency to spin in the middle of the zone as a starter. Severino relied
heavily on his fastball in 2016 where he threw it 56.20% of the time, compared
to 34.11% for his slider and just 9.69% for the changeup. In 2017, Severino
threw his fastball 51.70% of the time, his slider 34.97%, and changeups
accounted for 13.33% of the pitches he threw. He also saw his average fastball velocity
jump from 96.89 MPH in 2016 to 97.76 MPH in 2017.

Photo Credit: Kathy Willens | AP

Point
being, Severino worked this offseason so that he could win a spot in the
rotation, and he thrived all season, which will likely result in a top-three Cy
Young finish in the American League. As
for what all this has to do with Chad Green, Green has the potential to be a
similar pitcher as Severino. Sure, they both have different pitch arsenals, but
they are right-handers who throw hard and have previously had much success out
of the bullpen.

For
Green to be successful as a starter, he is really going to have to develop a
third pitch. Having a strong third pitch is frequently the difference between a
pitcher being destined for the rotation, or being relegated to the bullpen.
Green’s best pitch is his fastball, which averaged a velocity of 96.07 MPH, up
from his average of 95.40 MPH in 2016. From there, his out pitch was the
slider, which he threw 22.89% of the time. As a reliever, he was able to get
away from his cutter, which averaged about 90 MPH, but he only threw 6.5% of
the time, compared to 15.07% of the time as a starter in 2016. He also mixed in a sinker and a splitter, but very rarely, with each
pitch being around or below 1% of his pitches in 2017.

Essentially,
the key for every successful starter is a fastball that hitters struggle to
touch, and solid secondary pitches. In 2016, opposing hitters hit .295 off his fastball,
but Green obviously worked hard to correct that this season, and he held
hitters to a .121 average off that pitch this year. He also held batters to a
mere .200 average off his slider, and a .235 clip against the cutter.

Severino
really relied on the guidance of Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez for his newfound
success this year, and Green needs to use that as a motivating factor in
becoming a successful starter in a rotation that could be very strong next
season with a three-headed monster of Sevy, Masahiro Tanaka, and Sonny Gray.

And the reality is, Green should not be pressured to be as dominant as he was
as a reliever. With this potential rotation in place Green will be a back-end
starter, so if he can correct some of his issues he’s faced previously as a
starter, he could solidify a forceful New York Yankee rotation in 2018, even if
it comes at the expense of losing a dominant bullpen arm. The Yankees should be
just fine there with David Robertson, Tommy Kahnle, Dellin Betances, and
Aroldis Chapman under contract for 2018, so Green should accept the challenge
of coming into camp as a starter with open arms. If it works out, the Yankee
pitching staff could lead them to a division title next year.

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The scene was set for the
young budding Bomber squad last fall after finishing their season a game away
from a World Series berth. They were the team that arrived a year too early,
and another deep playoff run would be the goal, but then an old friend threw a
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the market, and Stanton dictated his transfer with a full no-trade clause. The
Giants and Cardinals among others threw their name into the ring, but who did
he choose? The Yankees and Dodgers, it seemed to be a battle of baseballs
powerhouses, but the Yankees had an advantage over their former neighbors,
payroll flexibility. They were able to use this into an absolute steal of the
reigning NL MVP, and the Yankees were thrust into a world series or bust year.
The season was historic, they set the season home run record without Gary
Sanchez, Didi Gregorius, Greg Bird, and Aaron Judge for most if not all of the
year, but it ended in a bust at the hands of…

The
speculation started during the regular season, even prior to his trade from the
Baltimore Orioles to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Where would Manny Machado go upon
his free agency at the end of the 2018 regular season? And, with that, which
teams would be knocking on his door? No
sooner did the Yankees’ regular season come to a close after their fated ending
in the American League Division Series, the talks of Machado coming to the
Bronx took off as though pushed by a speeding 4 Train behind Yankee Stadium. The
truth of the matter is that the rumors started even prior to Machado’s free
agency being on the horizon -- they started
at the trade deadline.

Yankee fans are left with more questions than answers following Clint Frazier’s injury riddled 2018. Frazier suffered through concussion symptoms throughout his 2018 campaign, which saw him appear in 69 games between the minors and the big leagues. Now, Yankees fans wonder what 2019 will hold for the 24 year-old.

Miguel Andujar’s 2018
arrival in the big leagues on April 1st had been much anticipated by Yankee
fans and we were rewarded with a Rookie of the Year performance by one of the
most exciting players in all of Major League Baseball.

Corey Kluber is the difference
maker and impact arm the Yankees need atop their rotation. In 2017 and
2018, Yankee fans wished ace-like status on Luis Severino, but his
inconsistencies have left him just short of owning the name. Kluber, 32,
has been the definition of consistent for the Cleveland Indians, winning 18+
games four out of the last five years and winning 20 games in 2018 for the
first time in his career. Kluber has posted an ERA below 3.50 every season
since 2014, and has struck out at least 220 hitters in the same span. Kluber
keeps getting better, and is not showing any signs of regression. Kluber is an
ace, the ace the Yankees need.

There’s
no easy way to answer this question. Or, rather, there’s no one answer. The
surrounding factors change, creating different situations and, as such,
different fits -- both from a financial and from a team standpoint. A case can
be made to bring back either of these free agents, or both of them, or…
neither. But it’s almost impossible to make a blanket answer that fits in every
possible scenario.

It
felt like a shoe-in. So much so, in fact, that I advocated
for what I thought was the inevitable all the way back in September, before the
BBWAA even announced the nominees for American League Rookie of the Year.

First acquired in a relatively
small-time, 40-man sell-off move around this time last year that sent 1B
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right hander with promise, but one still years away from making any significant
Major League impact.At the time, the
important part of that trade was the $250,000 international bonus pool money
Miami included, which we all thought was to be used on Shohei Ohtani.Ohtani, obviously, never ended up in the Bronx
and will not pitch at all in 2019 after undergoing offseason Tommy John
Surgery.

Flashback to July 3rd -
the Mariners had just won their eighth consecutive game, putting them 20 games
above .500 and in possession of the third-best record in baseball. Everything
was going right in Seattle, and it surely seemed as if the M’s infamous 17-year
playoff drought would finally come to an end. Just two and a half months later
on September 22nd, the Mariners were eliminated from playoff contention,
following a dreadful summer slump and the concurrent surge of the
division-rival Athletics.

I
cannot count the number of times I tweeted about the Yankees and their problem
with RISP and situational offense over the course of the 2018 season. Of
course, the Yankees won 100 games on the regular season, and that statistic is
nothing to sniff at. They also claimed the single-season home run record. And
that’s great.